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To carry out SEAONC SE3’s pledges related to racial justice outlined in our recent statement, we formed an expanded Racial Equity Task Group (formerly the Diversity & Inclusion Task Group) who will continue meeting regularly over the course of this year to plan events and engage in ongoing research projects. Currently, we are compiling research relating to Black representation in structural engineering at the university and industry levels, gathering contacts to make connections with university groups serving underrepresented racial minorities in engineering, and discussing events such as the DEI leadership roundtable and programming specifically for BIPOC engineers. Our CE Education Experience Survey has launched. Please forward to any current undergraduate civil engineering students you know. A big thank you to SEAONC Racial Equity Co-Lead Priscilla Nguyen for her work on this survey Please reach out to us if you are interested in getting involved. Contributors:
Priscilla Nguyen, Hayley Proctor, Tiffany Hwang, Curtis Siegfried, Kaat Ceder, Brenna Marcoux, Rachel Cohen, Jen Ton, Jennifer Alviso, Melissa Patel, Emily Guglielmo, Lorena Arce, Natalie Tse
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On June 12th, SEAONC SE3 sent an email to its distribution list to confirm its continued commitment to stand and fight in solidarity with the Black community and the Black Lives Matter Movement. In this message, the committee shared its pledge to take specific actions in the 2020-2021 SEAONC year related to research, organized programming for local universities, roundtable discussion with firm leaders and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consultants, and a commitment to give Black members of our profession a platform at SE3 events. This pledge followed with a "Call-to-Action" to all firms and individuals to contribute to creating a more equitable structural engineering industry.
The committee has recommended specific action items for firms and individuals, and made them available to the community on this website. To read the full statement and to download some resources on this topic, please visit this page of our website.
 SEAONC SE3 is currently launching its second year of the SE3 long-term mentorship program. We invite all SF Bay Area structural engineers to participate in this program. The 2020 SE3 LT Mentorship Program This year, the committee will be forming "mentoring groups" consisting of four to six people, varying in years of professional experience (entry-level, mid-level, and seasoned professionals). For our program, groups will meet roughly once every other month. Meetings will of course be done virtually (until the Bay Area Counties remove or reduce restrictions due to COVID and it's deemed safe to meet in small groups). What's great about this set-up is that everyone can benefit, no matter how many years they've been working in the profession:
The matching process virtually, so mentoring groups can form over the next month. If you're interested in joining, please go to this link and complete an application. Please forward this along to any colleagues at your firm who you think would be interested and can benefit from this program!! Thank you to committee members Alan Puah, Steve Earl, Sara Rahme, and current co-chairs Rachel Cohen, and Brenna Marcoux for all their hard work setting up this new program for our local community. The NCSEA SE3 Committee is currently administering its third nationwide survey of structural engineers across the profession. We invite all structural engineers in the United States to join the conversation! Please take 10-15 minutes to submit a response to this year's survey. Every opinion is important to us. The core mission of the SE3 Committee is to attract and retain the best and brightest into our profession; and to ensure all structural engineers have a clear pathway to success. The SE3 survey is an ongoing effort to identify trends, understand the underlying factors, and initiate industry-wide conversations. EVERY structural engineer is invited to participate regardless of race, gender, age or job title. The SE3 mission applies to every structural engineer. For more info, please visit the NCSEA SE3 Committee Site. By Hayley Dickson Diversity, inclusion, equity (our namesake!) are terms that might seem as inescapable (at least to me, as a past SE3 co-chair) in our cultural and political zeitgeist as they are polarizing. There are varying definitions and levels of understanding, and it can be divisive to even bring them up, let alone address any related issues. Why do we care? And if we care, how do we approach such a nuanced and touchy subject? If we can agree on that, what can we as structural engineers even do, in the small subset of the professional world that we occupy?
These are big questions with answers that will undoubtedly change over time as we learn how to live and work better, but we can start with the facts: this does matter. Our 2018 survey revealed that at each ascending position level, we grow less diverse. At the principal level, just 14% of respondents are non-white, and at the entry/staff level this percentage nearly triples. The numbers related to gender show a similar shift, with 16% of principal respondents identifying as female, increasing to nearly half at entry level. Though the data shows promise of a diverse future, the picture is not entirely rosy. Those with identities outside the majority are significantly more likely to have experienced discrimination and harassment in the workplace. These are not isolated incidents to be dismissed, with numbers as staggering as 50% of women having experienced discrimination at some point in their careers. It’s meaningful to remember that half of the survey respondents are under the age of 35, so conceivably many of these women are facing discrimination early on in their careers. The SEAONC SE3 Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee is excited announce our upcoming roundtable discussion at AIA in San Francisco on February 25, 2020. Date | Time: February 25, 2020 | 5:45 pm - 8:30 pm Location: AIA San Francisco, 130 Sutter St #600, San Francisco, CA 94104 Description: This roundtable discussion will focus on recruitment and management strategies that help attract and support a diverse staff. The panel will consist of firm leaders, HR/recruiting managers, and professionals from structural engineering, architecture, and general contracting firms, who will share their experiences implementing strategies or programs to diversify their staff and improve their workplace culture and retention metrics.  Panelists:
For more information on the registration & panelists: Visit our event page. Register for the event on the SEAONC Event Page. Event Coordination Team: Brenna, Rachel, Maito, Hayley and Tiffany   The National (NCSEA) SE3 committee has achieved quite a bit over the past year. The committee has increased collaboration across multiple SEA member organizations and other AEC organizations, completed over 15 presentations around the US and abroad, and hosted two very successful symposia, with over $40K in corporate sponsorships between the two. Analysis of the 2018 survey data continued, with special efforts in reporting geographic trends, flexibility and childcare, and wage gap at Principal level. In a huge collaborative effort, the 2018 Survey report was published, and can be viewed here. Moving forward into 2020, in addition to the 2020 NCSEA SE3 survey (development, beta testing, and distribution), we are excited to be transitioning to what we are calling a “CALL TO ACTION”, to encourage all individuals in this profession to move beyond the data by starting conversations and effecting change in their respective organizations. What is your “reimagined workplace” and what do you plan to do to enhance your career, and influence positive changes in your immediate work environment? See the newly published national SE3 committee website for more information on the committee, events, and publications.  The SEAONC SE3 Committee had a very productive year in 2019. Committee members worked to expand the SE3 network by connecting with professionals and advocates throughout the state, hosted several successful events in the SF Bay area, published a new blog and pay report, and continued to develop new resources that contribute to our mission to advance the profession. 
SE3 is pleased to announce that the committee co-chairs for 2019-2020 will be Brenna Marcoux of FTF Engineering and Rachel Cohen of Forell/Elsesser. Brenna has co-led the SE3 mentorship subcommittee and Rachel has co-led the SE3 Outreach and Communications subcommittee for the past year. Thank you to outgoing co-chairs, Zahraa Saiyed of Scyma Design and Consulting and Hayley Dickson of Forell Elsesser for their exceptional leadership, inspiration and dedicated efforts over the last two years. SE3 has coordinated several very successful events and made a significant impact on the structural engineering and building design community. We are proud to continue to build our network of advocates and ambassadors who are dedicated to the advancement of our profession. We are grateful for the many individuals who have volunteered their time to provide meaningful events and programs for our local area. We are also pleased to announce new leaders of our various subcommittees. Sara Rahme of Hilti and Steve Earl of Forell Elsesser Engineers will be co-leading the mentorship committee. Hayley Proctor of Wiss Janey Elstner will be joining Maito Okamoto as co-lead of the Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittee. Yoshita Manne of Tipping Structural Engineers will be co-leading communications and outreach with Stephanie Borchers of Forell Elsesser Engineers. The SEAONC SE3 Committee is thrilled to announce that the new video documentary, featuring reflections from collaborators, advocates and thought leaders during the May 2019 SEAONC SE3 Symposium in San Francisco, California has now been published!
The goal of this event was to broaden the discussion of engagement and equity by inviting structural engineers from all over California and outside of the state to participate on aspects of changing our profession for the better. The sold out symposium featured inspirational speakers and thought leaders who left the audience invigorated and committed to advancement of our structural engineering industry. The 2018-2019 SE3 Committee co-chairs, Zahraa Saiyed and Hayley Dickson, and co-founder Natalie Tse, would like to thank this year's sponsors for their generous donations, support and advocacy of the SE3 Project Mission, and to the dedicated SE3 committee leads and core members and volunteers for their continuous commitment to the advancement of the structural engineering profession. This video was created by filmmaker, Conor Hagen, based in Northern California, and director at Red Lady Films. If you have any comments or questions about this event and future collaboration efforts with the SE3 Committee, please email us at [email protected]. |
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